Bureaucrats busy boozing: A roundup of what’s happening in Topeka

A loud, drunken
party was banned from The usually quiet Topeka White Linen restaurant in late
February. The party of 12, in a room with a maximum occupancy of 25, included three
House Republicans and two lobbyists. The manager of the fine dining restaurant
told the Topeka Capital-Journal that one member of the party drank five old
fashioneds in 90 minutes, one made an “inappropriate” toast to the entire
restaurant, and one yelled at the sous chef. The party asked the owner if he
knew who they were and if liquor laws for cutting off drunk people applied to
them. One of the Representatives later commented, “I’m not aware of anything
happening.”

Bills, Briefly

Last year, the
Kansas Corporation Commission approved Westar Energy’s request to fine
customers who use solar panels and generate their electricity up to $70 a
month. Environmental groups, including the Kansas Sierra Club, support The
Energy Fairness Act (SB124 and HB2190) which aims to curb the fees. The
Commission’s Chairman is a former executive of an oil and gas company.

If SB 162 passes
the House, private contractors under the Department for Children and Families
(DCF) would be required to notify the Governor, every member of the
legislature, and local media of any missing children from foster care
contractors. A fine of $500 would be imposed on a contractor for every day
they do not notify the DCF of a child who went missing or had to spend a night
in the contractor’s office. Children’s rights advocates filed a class-action
suit in November which alleges that “Kansas’ child welfare system is, and has
been… systemically failing to protect the safety and well being of vulnerable
children.” The Senate unanimously passed the bill.

If HB 2006 passes
the Senate, the Department of Commerce would be required “to create a database
of economic development (incentives)” the agency offers to private
corporations. The database would also analyze the return on investment from
these corporate subsidies. The House unanimously passed the bill.

SB 1494, which
would add $90 million to school funding and potentially end the
litigation against the state’s unconstitutional education funding, passed the
Senate and is now in House committee.

HB 2079, which
would have ended the spousal exemption from sexual battery, diedin
the House Committee on Judiciary. The state currently defines sexual battery as
“the touching of a victim who is not the spouse of the offender… who
does not consent thereto, with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual
desires of the offender or another.” According to Rep. Brett Parker, D-Overland
Park, “if you have a spouse who commits sexual battery against you, you have no
recourse under the law because it’s not illegal.”

Governor Laura Kelly signed into law:

SB 9, giving $115
million to KPERS, the state’s public employee retirement fund. The amount equals
a payment the legislature skipped in 2016 but does not make up for all the rest
of the skipped payments used to support the Brownback administration’s tax
experiment.

SB 130, giving
discretion to county election officials to allow for registered voters to vote
at any polling location in their registered county. However, SB 43, which would
have allowed Kansans to register to vote up to and on election day, died
in committee. Voters still must register before an arbitrarily-set deadline.

HB 2191, allowing
issued search warrants for electronic devices or electronically stored
information “for examination and review anywhere.” The ACLU of Kansas testified
that the bill includes “numerous privacy concerns” and potential Fourth
Amendment infringements, citing broad language that may be used to justify “(seizing)
more data than what is identified in the warrant.”

Learn about more upcoming bills, information about your
representatives, and how they vote on acts you support by going to
kslegislature.org